Favorite places in Normandy

The following is posted in "Technical Difficulties" which is totally inappropriate so I’m reposting here where it might be more useful.

Donerail, There is the most marvelous place in Normandy. I’ve never seen another American there and it is magical. Here’s an excerpt from my 1998 journal (that is currently being put online at http://www.francetoday.com although I’m not quite to Normandy yet.)

"Drove north through Fleury and Perriers-sur-Andelle to follow signs to Château de Vascoeuil where we parked. Paid our entrance fee and wandered in. You immediately start to see sculptures and mosaics on the lawn and in every nook and cranny. The lovely old Château is also a museum of modern art and has a wonderful collection including Calder, Leger, Dali and others. We took pictures and went through a restored farmhouse and followed a stream (the river Andelle) to an outdoor salon de thé, the Restaurant La Cascade. They had a good choice of menu items and prices in the little restaurant beside two waterfalls and in the shadow of a sculpture that would have fit in the fountain at the Pompidou Center in Paris. Ed had an excellent grilled salmon and I got roast duck. Our wonderful waiter tried his English and we tried our French. Good food; good fun; perfect setting."

There is more but this gives you the idea. There was a Cocteau exhibit that day. In the tower of the chateau we met an older gentleman who was absolutely amazing. He told us all about the history of the chateau . . . all the while insisting he didn’t speak any English. He was so funny and very knowledgeable. The restaurant was good and the setting incredible. Obviously, it could be cold and wet in November, but it’s worth a try.

There is Honfleur which is a major tourist destination . . . but for a reason. It’s utterly charming. The Falaise d’Aval has been photographed so many times that I’m sure you’ve seen it, but the real thing is better than the photos. If you haven’t visited Giverny, this would be the time to do it. Monet aside, the little town itself is beautiful. While you’re in the area, visit Château Gaillard at les Andelys. The chateau is in ruins, but the view is to die for. Have you seen Mont St. Michel? Also, you should visit Bayeux for both tapestry and the glorious cathedral. If you have time, get John Chapman’s "Slow Way to Paris" from the library and read it. We followed in his footsteps (car tracks!) several times and enjoyed it immensely. I think it’s out of print but I’m sure a good library would have it.

Normandy is wonderful. One day we followed little handpainted signs to a farm that sold cider. We ended up way way out in the boonies but we found the place and the cider was not only excellent, the farmer’s wife was selling little grape cakes so be got one for dinner. In the area you might try St. Felician cheese. It’s not quite as good as The Temptation of St. Felician cheese, but it’s a close second. We did enjoy it and it’s not one you seem mentioned often.

I hope you get more suggestions, but this is a start.

All right!!!!!! Everything is back where it’s supposed to be. This is so exciting. I feel like a new person (with a new computer). See, donerail, I did not have a ghost in my computer.

Did you get enough ideas for Normandy from my last post?

This is no longer in the "Travel Help" section. It’s back in Today’s. I’m fighting a losing battle . . . or someone is.

The Technical Difficulties section contains only a couple posts from back in 2003. Could France.com have a virus?

This is bizarre. The top post has a time of May 18, 2004 9:26 PM but I typed it last night. The second post has a time of May 18, 2004 1:07 PM and I typed it today. Why is the second post not at the top since it was typed last? (Obviously the date is incorrect on the top post since it was actually typed May 17 at 9:26 PM.)

I’ve noticed incorrect dates for a long time but assumed it was a time zone thing.

At least the post landed in Travel Help on the Forum where it’s supposed to be. I had to access it from Today’s but it seems to have moved to the correct place.

I think we need a computer psychiatrist.

SalB,

A computer psychiatrist would’nt do the trick. What we need a is a good bug squasher!

Hopefully we got around this batch of bugs and we should be fine for some time. Relax. Things will get back where they belong.

Thanks for your patience, by the way.

As you’ve said on another forum, it’s been quite a learning experience, and not for you only!

Thanks,

FC

SalB: The data on Normandy is starting to flow. Haven’t made the final decision yet on Normandy. Went looking for "Slow Road to Paris" by John Chapman but could not find at library or amazon. Would the weather be much different in Bordeaux in the first part of November? BTW, your travel habits seem to be similar to our’s. I thought we were the only boring ones. Donerail

SalB: This is odd. My previous post was directed to your latest post and it appeared ahead of it. Guess something is still wrong with visitfrance.travel software. Donerail

Donerail, Your question, "Would the weather be much different in Bordeaux in the first part of November?" Different from what? Certainly different from July! I think autumn weather is quite unpredictable in most of Europe. We were expecting rain all week (per the official prediction) last November and, as it turned out, the weather was lovely. It rained lightly on one day and we discovered Paris in the rain is fun. Rome in the rain is dangerous!! Slippery cobblestones. We’ll opt for Paris in the rain. It kind of adds to the ambiance.

Silly as this sounds, boring people have more fun. We’re not always dealing with angst . . . except when the web site stops functioning!

I think all is right with the world today . . . at least on France.com.

SalB: Key question. I have been "over the pond" from Boston on numerous occasions. How do you cope with jet lag. From LAX you have to have it worse. When I’m on company business I don’t care that much – I just take cabs. But on vacation, what do you do on arrival? Coast for a day or start right out with the Peugeout? I’m thinking of how difficult is it driving the first day. I have always given it a day or two before setting out. Donerail

Donerail,

The hardest part is the very first day, especially around 5:00 PM. No matter what you do, never, ever, try and take a nap that first day. The best is actually to work or have something that will keep your mind away from the sleep deprivation… You have to force your mind and your body to believe they are adjusted to Paris time. And what makes that possible is to concentrate on something you like or you are forced to do (believe or not work is actually very good for this!). Driving may work as long as you don’t fall asleep at the wheel…

Go see a museum, take a break around 5 with some strong cofee so that you can get past that point and getting your second wind. If you do this, then you should be able to sleep ok the first night and then things will improve.

I don’t know if it helps, but its my method and works quite nicely for me 😉

Bonne chance!

There are all sorts of answers to this question. You have to find what works for you.

Our solution: Avoid caffeine, sugar and alcohol for a couple days before we leave. You have to be motivated! On the plane, we try to get at least 5 or 6 hours sleep at a time appropriate to our landing time. We carry ear plugs and eye covers to help. My husband fares better than I in the sleep department. On the other hand, I do better without sleep than he so perhaps it all works out in the end.

When we land, we pretend we are already on France time. We continue the day as we would when at home. If it’s lunch time, we eat lunch. If it’s dinner time, we eat dinner. One time we got our Peugeot and took off from the airport going to Reims. It’s not a bad drive and we had no trouble. We checked in, parked the car and toured the downtown area, had dinner and went to bed a bit early (around 9:30). Usually we stay in Paris a few days and you’d have to be crazy to take a car into Paris and pay for parking if you didn’t have to. We just go to our hotel, check in and proceed as we would according to the time of day. When we’re ready to leave, we Metro out to the airport and pick up the Peugeot and don’t have to pay Paris parking rates.

The first couple days we do go to bed around 9:30 to 10:00 PM and try to get a little extra sleep but it’s never really been a problem. I think jet lag is a bit overrated. If you use moderation in all things, you adjust pretty quickly. For instance, we would never plan a drive of 5 or 6 hours on our first day in France. That would be torture! Never never drink wine before driving when you are jet lagged. It just makes everything worse . . . possibly much worse! If you’re one of those people who absolutely cannot sleep on a plane, you will have jet lag of some intensity. I think the caffeine, sugar, alcohol thing helps as much as anything. You might try it.

A trip to France is worth a little jet lag.

jnf and SalB: Thanks for the tips. I guess I am going to be condemned to jet lag to some degree. I am in the aviation business and that makes it difficult for me to sleep on planes. I am always "sensing and listening" while people all around me are sleeping soundly. SalB, so many people have said don’t drive in Paris and having been there a number of times I never would. I was, however, think of driving off from CDG to someplace. I guess the recommendation is to keep that first day limited to a couple of hours. Would that get me to Bayeux? Donerail

No. May I make a suggestion. Get your car at CDG and drive to Rouen for the night. It’s a lovely town with lots to see and do, including a marvelous cathedral. You can take it easy and rest a bit. Do a lot of walking (that helps jet lag tremendously) and then go on to Bayeux the next day. Or . . . do some sightseeing on the way to Bayeux. It’s beautiful country.

BTW, my husband has driven quite a bit in Paris and he never had any trouble (unless I was giving directions). The Peripherique at rush hour is not much fun but it’s no worse than LA. We just avoid it because it’s so expensive to park the silly car in Paris. You don’t need it anyway because the public transportation system is so good.

I also heartily recommend ear plugs while you are flying. All that noise isn’t good for your hearing anyway. I know you can still hear, but perhaps you wouldn’t be so paranoid about odd sounds or attempting analyze them.

Just a suggestion.

SalB: You need to open a travel agency or write a book. "The SalB Guide To France." I would buy it. I have heard a lot about Rouen. About a two hour drive from CDG? BTW, most people in the aviation business, I think, don’t sleep well on flights. The turbo fan engine is an amazing product. We just like to listen to it as there are so many things going on inside it. Did you know it operates at a temperature above its melting point? I probably shouldn’t have said that. Donerail

Donerail, If you’ve ever seen the metal honeycomb inside the jet engine, my father was the principal manufacturer of it for years. He sold the business about a year before he died so I have no idea what is happening in the field any more. Don’t worry about telling us about the melting point. Obviously we’ve all flown and the engine has not melted.

I can’t think of anything I’d rather not do than open a travel agency. I actually have written about ten books, five of them on France. No one wants to publish them so they gather dust. (I haven’t tried very hard.) I really don’t consider myself an "experienced" traveler, just one willing to share experiences I have had and one who believes you can have a lot of fun without spending a lot of money.

We just got back from Yosemite Natl. Park with our daughter. It is absolutely glorious. There were quite a few French tourists there at the same time. I wonder how many Americans have visited the French national parks . . . which are also absolutely glorious?!

SalB: You made me do this. The honeycomb that you refer is for "containment." Containment of what, you say? Engine failures. The last thing we in the industry want is an "uncontained engine failure." That is when parts of the engine – spinning at beaucoup thousands of rpm – going flying all over. The honeycomb helps "contain" the problem. Don’t worry about the engine melting. They will shut down or explode before that happens. Wasn’t that a bummer about the new Terminal. Can’t believer I was marveling how beautiful it was just 6 weeks ago. We can control turbines running at thousands of rpm and operating at super high temperatures – but we can’t pour concrete or make steel properly. Inexcusable. Donerail

The terminal was a major disaster. I wonder if the architect or the engineer’s heads will roll?! Perhaps construction . . . ?

Someone either didn’t do his math or tried to pinch a penny (franc) too hard. It brought to mind the bridge collapse in Kansas City about 30 years ago. We had just walked across that bridge a week before it gave way. Scary. At least we haven’t been to CDG since last November.

I had no idea what the honeycomb was for, but know it was also used in furnaces for metallurgy and other things. My father was of the opinion that "ladies" shouldn’t bother themselves about such things. Wonder how he’d feel if he knew he had two granddaughters who are engineers?

Thanks for the lesson.

go to the restraunt bienville. it is the best place i have ever been. they have the best crepes